Maruti Suzuki believes electric vehicles are not the answer to reducing carbon emissions in India, the world’s third-biggest releaser of greenhouse gases, at least not in the immediate future.
India’s largest automaker believes that vehicles powered by hybrid technology, natural gas and biofuels present a better path toward a cleaner future than full-electric cars considering the nation generates about 75 percent of its electricity from dirty coal, Chairman R.C. Bhargava said in an interview.
“Talking about electric cars without looking at the greenness of the electricity generated in the country is an inadequate approach to this problem,” Bhargava said in an interview from his home in Delhi last week.
“Until the time we have a cleaner grid power, it’s necessary to use all the available technologies like compressed natural gas, ethanol, hybrid and biogas, which will help reduce the carbon footprint and not push any one technology.”